Prior art wideband circularly polarized microstrip antennas generally feature elements that are larger than one wavelength, which is not useful for array antennas. There has been a long-felt need for smaller sized antennas, particularly antenna sizes that are smaller than a wavelength. This invention's long-awaited electrically small wideband circularly polarized compact microstrip antenna with a uniquely shaped radiating arch offers a number of advantages over prior art antennas. An electrically small wideband circularly polarized compact microstrip antenna with a size smaller than a wavelength can be a quite advantageous compact antenna or excellent antenna array structure. The electrically small wideband circularly polarized single layer compact microstrip antenna of the present invention provides the same high efficiency as conventional microstrip antennas, but it also offers a number of key advantages that permit significant decreases in antenna size, without suffering from the disadvantages, limitations and shortcomings of prior art antenna structures.
The present invention fulfills the long-standing need for a significantly reduced antenna length and an electrically small antenna with a microstrip antenna structure fabricated with a segmented radiating arch stacked on a dielectric substrate along with an innovative electrical feed arrangement that produces circularly polarized leaky-wave radiation and permits both a considerably reduced antenna length and high efficiency antenna performance, without suffering from the disadvantages, shortcomings and limitations of prior art microstrip antennas. The antenna of the present invention has a very wide circularly polarized bandwidth for its small size, because it is a successful leaky wave antenna with a bandwidth that is further enhanced due to the curvature of its structure which causes wave propagation path length difference, whether the portion of the wave is propagating near the structures R1 or R2 radius or anywhere in between.